October 22 - Saturday
We gathered to get ready to go to Edfu Temple.
Movie.
Whoa! Looks like a horse carriage ride!
What fun. We found our guy - number 25. Off we went for a rather
long trot to Edfu
Temple. Movie.
Edfu Temple is considered one of the best preserved sites. It
was built during the Ptolemaic period - Greek period about
237BC.
One vendor who called himself "Adam"
nabbed me. He was persistant but we didn't have money. Besides I
don't want to buy things I have to lug home.
We entered the complex.
Quite impressive. Many pictures were in relief
rather then into the material. Lots of nice stuff here. Too much
to remember it all. Some colors were quite clear. An incredible
number of carvings!
Extras
Many faces are de-faced. This is
because the first commandment says to "have no other gods no
graven images or likenesses". When the Coptic Christians were
the majority in Egypt they chipped off the faces and sometimes
the entire bodies of the old Gods. Often it looks like they were
careful to only do the face as though they recognized the beauty
of the carving. Extra picture or two.
Back to the horses and back we go. Movie. Our guy was on
his cell phone. He wanted a tip but
only in Egyptian pounds. Our ship had moved so we had to wait a while.
We had dinner. The ship parked and we
walked to the Kom
Ombo Temple. It was built in
Ptolemaic times by the Greeks about 180 BC. The Romans made some
additions. It's unusual in that it is two mirrored
temples. One half to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility
and the other half to Horus the Elder. Much of the temple had
been destroyed then restored in 1893.
Quite a nice visit. Of course lots of wonderful stuff to see. We
visited the Crocodile
museum.
We donned our Egyptian wear for dinner. I can't believe Deb bought me a
Galibaya - a traditional mens outfit. And I can't believe I wore it. I did not wear the head thing.
There was an Egyptian themed party later. We wanted to go to bed because we are getting up very early
but the noise was too loud so we joined the party. Movie.